Peace Police

Is there ever any good news from slums? Yes! In Rio's famed favelas, law enforcement efforts are cleaning out the drug gangs, police officers occasionally take part in the outdoor activities of residents and children play in the streets in what used to be extremely dangerous neighborhoods. It's been two and a half years since "police pacification units" have been introduced in Rio's most treacherous slums, including in one almost everyone has heard of, City of God. The aim is to establish these units in 160 communities. And Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff wants to introduce the program to other cities.

Although drug dealing, violence, fear and suspicion have not disappeared from Rio's favelas, the large police presence has improved conditions there for thousands of residents; more kids are going to school, garbage is being collected, crime has fallen and police officers are offering language and music lessons and even free karate classes.

It will take a long time before Brazil's slums are normal neighborhoods, but slowly but surely a "force for good" is transforming them into safer places where little by little the inhabitants are learning to trust each other and the police, and to understand drug trafficking and violence are not the only options available to them.

See The New York Times article and video, Taming the City of God, for more on this tremendous effort.

Walking for Hope

It is cold and a bit windy in Geneva; the sun will certainly not shine very bright today. Nonetheless we put on our walking shoes and headed out for the 19th edition of the “Marche de l’Espoir” or “Walk for Hope”, run by Terre des Hommes. This walk, which takes place in early October every year, benefits one or more countries, and specifically children in these countries. Last year, it was Senegal; this year it is Brazil, Burkina Faso and India.

Importantly, this year’s edition is focused on healthy, sustainable food for all. Today, more than one billion of the 6.7 billion people on our planet suffer from hunger or malnutrition, or 150 million more than in 2008. More than half are children.

This number is growing in spite of the Millennium Development Goals which aim to reduce malnutrition by 50% by 2015. But the Earth could feed 12 billion people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This food is inaccessible to a large part of the world’s population, especially those in the Southern hemisphere, because of low wages and agricultural practices that are not adapted to the regions where food is needed the most.

It is with this in mind that we set out this morning to bring our part of “Hope”. As with all walks of this kind, our children have dragged their parents along. They have already done the advanced footwork, going to neighbors, family and friends and getting them to pledge money for each kilometer walked. And it will not be in vain.

During our walk, we mingle with the thousands of other participants, old and young and all ages in between, who have come along to bring their bit of “Hope” to the world. We walk along the route, have our “passport” stamped every kilometer, and take part in the two quizzes that will bring us two bonus kilometers – that much less for our feet to trod.

Our oldest child logged 12 kilometers, and the youngest 16 ‑ a nice reversal that will lighten a few of their sponsors’ pocketbooks, and put healthy, sustainable food in a few more stomachs.

Business Solutions to Energy Poverty

Energy is a key driver for economic development and social progress, yet access to sustainable energy services remains a challenge for low-income communities in developing countries. To reach communities that do not have energy access today, new business models, supported by appropriate policy frameworks, are needed.

GDF SUEZ believes that the private sector has an important role to play in designing and delivering innovative solutions to bridge the “energy divide” and support a transition to a low-carbon energy future in the developing world.

The company is active across the entire energy value chain, in electricity and natural gas, upstream and downstream. GDF SUEZ is also helping local communities to access energy through tailor-made solutions and investment in dedicated projects to support access to energy for low-income populations.

In Brazil, the company inaugurated the São Salvador dam in 2009, which will generate enough electricity to supply a city of one million people. 54% of the 10,000 direct and indirect jobs the project created have been filled by local workers and more than 10% of the total investment was dedicated to social and environmental programs, which included relocating displaced populations and protecting fauna and flora. In Estreito, where the company is building a large hydroelectric plant, GDF SUEZ has committed EUR 130 million to social and environmental programs, including access to energy, which will be implemented in collaboration with the local communities.

In Morocco, GDF SUEZ has developed an initiative, through the Group's subsidiary LYDEC, to support electrification in several dozen shantytowns in Casablanca. Prior to the initiative, inhabitants resorted to illegal leaks and network connections, often leading to serious accidents. In the late 1990s, LYDEC set up an innovative partnership with local authorities and communities to provide legal access to a safe and reliable electricity supply system.

The electrification program has allowed more than 30,000 households (amounting to some 200,000 inhabitants) to connect to the electricity supply system under a management approach that uses “street representatives” from the local community to manage and coordinate daily operations and provide technical support to users.

The program has been incorporated into an extensive national project to fight poverty where the aim is to connect more than 145,000 households to essential urban services, including water, waste and electricity, by the end of 2009.

GDF SUEZ is integrating energy poverty issues into its sustainable development strategy, with a declared ambition to “redefine the relationship between people and energy, to make energy a source of progress and sustainable development (energy accessible to as many people as possible, more reliably, consumed more efficiently, and showing greater respect for human beings and their environment).”